Final Expenses for Ron Gess

My father, Ronald Lee Gess, passed away on March 1, 2022, from currently unknown causes (as of the date of publishing this). Ron was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on May 29, 1951. Earlier in life, Ron had graduated from Pacifica High School in Garden Grove, California. Shortly after, he joined the U.S. Navy Reserve, serving as 'fire watch' during the Vietnam War. In the late 1970s, he met my mother (divorced in 1997), and while working for the city of Anaheim, he joined the Mason Lodge. By the late 1980s, Ron was a mechanic that worked on aircraft (first for McDonnell Douglass and later Boeing). After the take over of Douglass by Boeing, he eventually found his way to working as a forklift mechanic for Raymond H.S. In the wake of the 2008 Financial Crisis; he was forced into retirement and never financially recovered.

 

His favorite pastime was participating in the Original Renaissance Pleasure Faire during the latter of his life. He had many friends at the R.P.F. and enjoyed his time with his children, who participated in many similar events. Unfortunately, in 2015 his activities with the groups at the R.P.F. ended when a wound on his right foot, complicated by his diabetes, caused him to lose his leg below the knee. The loss of his leg limited him in more ways than just the obvious; he could not drive, and his medical bills quickly piled up.

 

He spent the last five years living in Cathedral City, where he worked on a model railroad and made friends with his neighbors nearby. Ron had survived most of his family, except his children and younger sister. Ron's sister is currently surviving on a limited fixed income. Over the last few weeks before his death, his daughter had just completed a costly move to South Carolina; I am the only next of kin nearby to handle his final wishes and expenses. I have just finished my student teaching, which amounts to four months of unpaid, full-time work in a school.

 

Given these conditions and several other circumstances bearing down on me, this could not have happened at a worse time. To further complicate matters, it appears as if Ron had no savings and no life insurance policies. So, while I am attempting to restart my own income stream and look for full-time work to start in the summer (and finish the last course of my MA), I am also trying to filter through the maze of paperwork he left behind with little hope in sight.

 

I need help managing his final expenses. His cremation alone is estimated at $1,200.00, while death certificates are $24.00 each (judging from what I have found so far, I will need to purchase at least a dozen). I will be making his urn myself. I will be emptying his apartment in Cathedral City over the next few weeks and doing my best to honor his last wishes, but truck rentals and gas is getting very expensive. If I can piece together enough after everything is taken care of, I would like to fly my sister out for a brief memorial on a date still to be determined.